I’m so excited… we arrived in St Maarten! We left Carricou at 7:30am on Saturday & dropped anchor at 4:30pm Monday. Overall it was a good passage. On passage, Scott and I talked about weather windows.. some sailors will wait weeks (even months) for the perfect conditions to make their passage. That’s fine if you’ve got unlimited time to spare.. life is short.. personally Scott and I both agree, that waiting for perfect conditions is not for us… we will wait until conditions are safe enough to make the passage and go for it. So this last passage was pretty good.. the winds were about 10% off in the ideal direction (we sailed mainly on a close reach and close hauled instead of broad reach like we hoped) but basically about the strength predicted (25-30K) with some gusts just over 40K. Totally manageable… especially considering our first overnight passage last fall from Bonifacio to Menorca, we had sustained winds well over 40 & gusts over 60.. plus thunder, lightening, rain and no instruments… so it is really about your comfort level and what your boat capable of. So far, we know that Adiona is a beast.. she can take much more than Scott and I… and we totally trust our boat. Then we trust each other… I know that if shit hits the fan, Scott will know what to do.. and Scott knows that although i don’t have all the technical and mechanical knowledge, I do know that when I am on watch while he is sleeping I don’t push my boundaries & I know when it is time to wake him up. Its all about trust.. and like a cruising couple said, when you are sailing partners, its even more than a marriage!
So the trip was pretty uneventful.. we managed to get enough sleep.. and basically it was eat, sleep, sail. We spent about 4 hours a day actually together.. one of us was usually resting while the other was at the helm. So glad that I prepped some meals before we left… it was quite a bumpy ride.. waves about 2- 3M.. not enough to toss the microwave off the counter, but you don’t want to try & cook a meal. Boiling water & reheating stuff is a major task.
We did see a pod of dolphins… got skunked on the fishing… but did see a couple of amazing moon rises! Moon rises over the ocean are freaking amazing !!! AND we had an overnight stowaway!! Late afternoon on Sunday we had a boobie circling the boat and finally landing. Funny thing is that neither Scott & I realized that the darn bird had spent the entire night on our boat! In the morning Scott needed to do something with the lines on the starboard side of the boat & when he reached toward the clutches there was a large bird comfortably sleeping on them!! And it was not willing to move!! So Scott actually had to pick the thing up & move it !! All it did was lift his head and give Scott a dirty look, tucked his head back into his feathers & back to sleep. When it finally was done with the free ride we had a bit of bird poop to clean up! Too funny!!
So now we are hanging out on the Dutch side of St Maarten.. Scott, I & our dingy are welcome to visit the French side… but we can’t take Adiona… does not make any sense!! But the French government is not letting any yachts in if you are not a citizen. So sad, because the majority of the beautiful anchorages are on the French side. But we are able to shop at the incredible French supermarkets & stock up on subsidized French wines & cheese!!
So the plan is to hang out here for about 10 days.. we are waiting for a trampoline to arrive that was shipped from France.. picked up a new Mantus anchor yesterday… yeah no more dragging!! Provision for 2 months in the Bahamas… groceries are about 2-3x the price in the Bahamas.. and only avail on the bigger islands. Since we plan to stay on the remote islands we need to bring pretty much everything we need. We’ve heard toilet paper sells for about $5 a roll!!!
Met a nice couple from Mississauga that has been sailing for 15 years… so getting lots of advice & shared knowledge from them.. we are such newbies still — so much to learn !!
We’re hooked up with good wifi for $70US a week, so maybe we’ll get some pictures uploaded.
Glad you two are enjoying yourselves!’
I am sure these is a great joke about Scott haven’t to love a bookie the not we after the night before, but I can’t think of one.
Wonderful to live vicariously through you two as you zip around on the warm waters of the Caribbean. Enjoy the blog posts so much. Maggie you me techie language is such that I always assume it is Scott. So for me being a feminist!!
Wow! What a great story!! Can’t wait to hear more…😊
The adventure c0ntinues! Not clear whether you are on the french side of the Island. Not that it matters as long as you are safe.
Maggie, your posts are very interesting and well written .You will have to write a book about your adventures..
Sounds great and so happy that you made it to St Maarten. That was quite a funny story about the tired bird bunking on your boat and just thinking the bird was so exhausted from flying across the ocean. Truly found a piece of land or whatever to rest…amazing! Keep your blogs coming and really enjoy your journey. Hope to see you both in Bahamas if you will be there for 2 months and keep our fingers crossed with the ease of travel ban.
I recently wrote 2 comments in your previous blogs and as for some reason they were not posted. I’m just going to see if this one would go through first before writing more.
Scott & Maggie…..We are following your trip closely again. Thanks for posting, Maggie. Good luck with your future endeavours. Tom & Dawn.
Hi Scott & Maggie
I was really happy for you when I had noticed some action on your blog. Been watching it for posts since. You are so wise to be back sailing again & ignoring this crazy world around us.
Must have felt special to see your boat again. You really get a personal connection to a boat that has shared all kinds of memories with you.
Glad you didn’t have too much work to do on it, before you got under sail. Enjoy your adventure !!!
Hopefully, you’ll get a chance to get back up to Candle Lake this summer, to show off that shiny new mast.
Keep the wind on your back,
Morley Mitchell
Thank you Morley! Always lots of never ending work… but worth it !! We will definitely be up at Candle this summer.. such a beautiful lake to sail on !